​The following text -- and the above illo, which you can click to see larger -- are featured in this week's paper, which is completely dedicated to the drink. Enjoy responsibly.

By Hannah Levin

When I was attending every metal show that blew through the Tacoma Dome in my youth, outfit selection was almost as important as getting in line for tickets early enough to secure one's admittance to the Ratt/Scorpions double bill. Sure, you wanted to look foxy, but you also had to have the correct color coordination and comfort level. Mötley Crüe? Black and red, perilously high stilettos. Slayer? All black, practical combat boots.

Along with fashion choices, beverage preference followed suit. Jack and Coke was--and is--the default for most metal shows (though if one were unfortunate enough to end up at a Dokken show, you deserved the wine coolers you were destined to drink), and ZZ Top meant that the hell-raisers in the front row would most certainly be beer drinkers.

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​Following in the footsteps of guitar greats like Joe Perry and Zakk Wylde, Local axe whiz Phil Wandscher (Jesse Sykes and the Sweet Hereafter, Whiskeytown) has something cooking for his fans. No, it's not a new record or side project, but something just as zesty.... salsa. Yesterday on Facebook, Wandscher posted about his endeavor into the world of rock 'n roll condiments:

"In an effort to be creative and make some $$$, I made an incredible batch of salsa and canned it tonight with my friend Tracy !!! Anyone who knows me well, knows that I have some skills in the kitchen !! That all being said ......Filthy Phil's Hot ASS salsa will be sold for $7.50 a pint. Help a brother out and enjoy this good ass sh*t. Taking local orders now !!!!"

Though we haven't tried it ourselves, it's safe to assumed Wandscher's creation will most likely be as hot and in your face as his guitar work on JS&TSH's latest Marble Son. Contact Phil on Facebook for a jar of your own.

Chris Gergley

​Guest Post By Matt Sullivan

To say Kearney Barton helped create the Northwest sound would be an understatement. Inventor or pioneer would be more like it. Whatever the tag, we miss the man.

The legendary sound engineer, who died last week at the age of 81, taught us about the Soul Swingers, Little Bill, the Frantics, Don & The Good Times, the Sonics, and so many more. The man had a heart of gold and a sense of humor that would make your grandfather proud. He was a genuine sweetheart who loved to work and record and record some more, making his famous cookies for guests, and watching a hydroplane race now and then.

It's a rare thing to master your craft at any point in your life. To do it in your thirties and stick with it for another 45 years, up until almost the day you die, is a beautiful thing. RIP Kearney. We'll miss you.

Here's a look at three of the songs that I feel best demonstrate his work.

Matt Sullivan
founder/co-owner
Light In The Attic Records

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Christine Taylor

Jesse Sykes' latest album, Marble Son, was one of the Weekly's top local albums of 2011.

​Jesse Sykes is a Seattle-based singer and songwriter who has been living in Iowa (but we still claim her). This column was originally posted to her Facebook page, and then later added as a response to Duff McKagan's Reverb post, "Quit Whining About SOPA and PIPA: Where's the Public Outrage Over Internet Piracy."

By Jesse Sykes

Man, this is getting McCarthy era-ish.

I'm staring to actually get annoyed and disheartened by some of the posts I'm seeing that seem to me dumbing the importance of all these issues at hand, way down. I'm seeing all the evil corps (like Walmart) listed that are behind SOPA and PIPA, but the other 100 or so left out (see: book publishers, music publishers, labels, etc... companies that PAY artists for their work!!). I'm seeing shit get taken out of context and fear tactics being bought into. C'mon, people!!

The real important issues in this bill are in the details and not in the propaganda. So much of the focus seems to be solely on the propaganda. Whatever your position is, talk about the details. Living in a culture where intellectual property and copyright holders are not protected is something I think most would agree we do not want.

I don't think this bill intended to go after small-time sharing of DVDs, songs etc. They would be going after the "big boys"- the people hugely "profiting" off of others' intellectual property. I know it's the grey area of where one would draw the line that everyone is frightened by, but it can be addressed if we take the time to really delve into all the complexities. But people have to want to delve.

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tUnE-yArDs plays the Neptune, Sunday, with Pat Jordache, Malaikat dan Singa.

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November's edition of Reverb Monthly featured an article ("Rhapsody: Perfecting the Pitch") by Chris Kornelis about Seattle-based music subscription service Rhapsody that detailed the pioneering company's past and future in the context of the digital music revolution. Here's a look at 10 milestones (in chronological order) in the history of digital music.

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1) Shawn Fanning starts Napster.
Napster, a file-sharing service founded by Northeastern University drop-out Shawn Fanning, begins operations in June 1999. After negotiations with the start-up company fall through, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) sues for copyright infringement in December, asking for damages of $100,000 per song.

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Kevin P. Casey

​Marco Collins--the music director and flagship DJ at 107.7 the End during grunge's halcyon days, and the subject of a SW cover story in January, "Marco Collins Picks Up the Pieces" -- hates being pigeonholed as the retro guy. But, damn it, the offers keep coming.

Last week Slacker.com--the Internet radio home where Collins has been curating a tasty "Alternative Chill" station--launched "Grunge: 20 Years" later, a station curated by Collins. The station is pure classic (rock?) grunge fare. The first two tracks spun during a recent listen were Nirvana's "Territorial Pissings" and Pearl Jam's "Better Man." Those nostalgic for End radio of 1991--much of which has been preserved in the station's current format--will be at home here.

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​Today at Slate, author Simon Reynolds*, whose new book about pop's insatiable appetite for old culture Retromania is out now, turns his nostalgia-critical lens toward this fall's impending rehashing of grunge myths, with an eye towards Nirvana at the Reading Festival, the accumulated output of Pearl Jam, and Seattle in general. Setting things off is the Reading Festival's plan to screen archival footage of Nirvana's 1992 performance (Kurt rolled onto the stage in a wheelchair, exiting it via the drum kit) in the space that would usually be occupied by a living, breathing band. Reynolds:

This decision is perplexing on a number of levels. First, there's the obvious oddness of interrupting the schedule of live groups in favor of a dead group. Then there's the curious fact that Reading's promoters, aiming to capitalize on 2011's status as the Official Anniversary of Grunge, are showing the footage of the gig on its 19th anniversary, a year ahead of customary schedule. (Nirvana did actually appear at Reading in August 1991 but were still relatively unknown and played midway through the bill.) Perhaps the most disconcerting thing about this exercise in time travel, though, is how it isn't really that surprising. It's exactly the sort of thing that you'd kinda expect from a pop culture increasingly characterized by a compulsion to revisit and reconsume its own past.

The whole essay is worth reading, as is the book. Reynolds reads from Retromania in Seattle Tuesday, Sept. 27 at the (appropriately retro) Rendezvous.

*Whose essential sociological history of rave, Energy Flash [UK]/Generation Ecstasy [U.S.], published 1998/99, I'm reading right now--so how's that for nostalgia?

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​On September 24, 1991, Nirvana's Nevermind was unleashed upon the world; twenty years later, Experience Music Project has a huge celebration planned to fete the album's anniversary. Nirvana's Nevermind Turns 20 at EMP will run from September 20-25; here's a breakdown of all the action by day:

When: Tuesday, September 20, 9 p.m.
What/Where/Why: Nevermind Live in Sky Church: A Benefit Show for Susie Tennant--Krist Novoselic leads the pack of local musicians tapped to perform every song off Nevermind; other performers include The Fastbacks, Visqueen, Champagne Champagne, Tacocat, Crypts, Vendetta Red, The Long Winters, Ravenna Woods, Vaporland (ex-Love Battery, the Fluid, TAD), Valis (ex-Screaming Trees), Campfire OK, and more to be announced. The event also includes a silent auction--proceeds from that and the night's ticket sales (tickets are $20 or $15 for EMP members) will benefit Susie Tennant, who served as Geffen Records' Northwest rep in the '90s and was recently diagnosed with cancer.

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​Frances Bean Cobain has spent the entirety of her life as a footnote to the trials and antics of her famous parents--most recently, mom Courtney Love lost custody of her two years ago and then posted a spate of bitter Facebook and Twitter messages against the teenager, accusing her of being "clearly deluded." During moments like that, Frances seemed like the undeserving victim of her mom's craziness. But in recent years, she's finally seemed to be coming into her own. Last December, she held a gallery show of her ink drawings at L.A.'s La Luz De Jesus Gallery, with one piece depicting Jim Jones and other sporting the captions "I Don't Owe You Shit" and "Treat Me Like Your Mother or I'll Eat the Sun." But the clearest indication of Frances' new adult identity came a few days ago, when fashion designer and photographer Hedi Slimane posted a series of photographs featuring Frances on his photoblog.

Check them out after the jump.

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